Tulips

Monday, February 17, 2014

Classically
defined, faith includes both assent to some set of propositions and trust.
While at times I have struggled with both aspects of faith, I think I have
consistently struggled more with trust. But as I thought about it this morning,
it seems that at the heart of distrust is pride or arrogance.

For
example, when I don’t trust someone to do something I asked her to do, I stand
around, looking over her shoulder, making sure she does it exactly the way I
wanted her to do whatever the task is. In other words, I micromanage the
situation not believing that she can accomplish the task just fine and not
trusting that her way to accomplish this task might not only be just as good as
mine, but better.

I have
a friend who is generally convinced that if she is not involved in some
project, be that coaching her kid’s sports team, sitting on some committee or
other, or any number of other activities that touch her world, the task will be
done poorly (‘poorly’ = ‘not the way she would do it’). And she wonders why she
is so busy.

I think
that lack of trust in God runs pretty much the same way. Ultimately, we think
we are better at running our lives than God is. After all, if we ran our lives
we would have prevented the various hurtful and difficult situations we have
faced. In short, we can’t trust that God’s plan is the best plan. We want
things our way. Submission to God’s plan means letting go of our own.

But
ultimately, that is what we must do. The more we choose our own plan and resist
God’s plan, the further we will be from the true joy we experience in communion
with God. To be like Christ, our ultimate good, includes not only sharing in
his glory, but sharing in his suffering, as Paul makes clear (e.g., Phil. 3:10;
Rom. 8:17). The more we insist on our own way, the less like Christ we will be.